Monday, July 30, 2012

Our sweet, sandwiched-in-the-middle-like-an-Oreo-cookie boy Dakotah turned 10 and we celebrated BIG with a Little Athlete Olympic Training Party! I explained last week that I was inspired to create an Olympic party for Kotah when we toured the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in 2011 BUT I had to wait until it was an Olympic year to make it feel more festive, so here we are! Kotah was the ideal boy for the theme because he is always very active and always ready to use his body in cool ways.

OKAY. This post is long. This party was a lot of *happy* work and I have a lot of pictures to share! Because of that, I need to break this down into a series of posts. To see every single little detail, you'll need to click over and stay tuned for all the posts.

Here is what I've shared so far, click on links below to read details:

Our theme focused on creating a "training camp for future Olympians" in full birthday party style! We had several tables, including a healthy RE-charge station, which I will share about in more detail in future posts. The highlight of the party was a SURPRISE visit from a fitness coach!

We celebrated at our local community center with a group of GOOD-spirited kids. This incredible and HUGE banner was provided by Banners on the Cheap. I was absolutely impressed with this company! Their service was super speedy and the banner quality is excellent. I will be doing a special giveaway to one lucky reader for a custom banner SOON so check back!

Outside, I set up an athlete station for our future Olympians to use during and after their workout.

I rolled up sweat towels that the kids were able to take home as part of their party favors.

Sun Safety first! I used a little bucket with bug spray and patriotic sun screen for the guests to use.

I also set out a bottle of children's multi vitamins to keep the little people fully charged!

We played a couple classic and timeless games like potato sack races!

The guests were able to design their own awards to take home too.

and we had aSURPRISE!!

The kids were super excited to see the surprise visitor, Derek Trombetta of 970 Muscle! Derek is a phenomenal person. He is top shelf
quality in both skills and personal character. Our family was honored
to have him spend time with the kids at the party! His visit to train all of the little athletes was the
main party attraction! Derek even dressed wearing ALL of the colors of the Olympics! His yellow shoes were my favorite part. More details on his special visit in a future post...

He taught the kids the meaning behind the Latin Olympic Motto: faster, higher, stronger and designed their training workout around that motto.

Derek, the party's Olympic Trainer of the day took them outside to jump into their HARDCORE Olympic workout!

FASTER! HIGHER! STRONGER!

Go

Go

Go!

Titus has springs in his legs just like his Daddy! {wink}

After the training workout session, Derek surprised each little athlete with a special, one of a kind, award. Each award was individually presented on the party podiums.

This was a party highlight, watching faces and eyes light up while standing center stage for their Olympic award.

Once the sweat session was over, I had a RE-energize and RE-hydrate Bar set up inside for the guests to RE-charge.

I made nostalgic paper chains in Olympic colors as the table backdrop to symbolize the Olympic rings.

My FAVORITE decor detail of this party was the world flag felt banner custom made for me by Taffie Wishes! I double love Taffie Wishes! This banner was AMAZING.

I wanted ORANGE cotton candy Olympic torches as party favors for all the kids to take home. I was happy to find our local candy store, Sugar Shack, was able to make beautiful puffy orange flames for us!

I special ordered the cookies from The Cookie Jar on etsy, the same vendor I used for our Magic Party last year. I wanted the Ancient Olympics Olive Wreath simply stated in the middle of a round cookie.

I made classic, childhood favorites, M&M cookies.

I also wanted a simply stated cake for the party. I wanted it to be solid GO FOR THE GOLD color. My fun friend, Stacey from a Spoonful of Sugar, made the most delicious and beautiful cake for us! I added paper rings on toothpicks that I made, an understated but effective topper for our cake.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

We joined our FUN friends at their home sweet home last night to watch the Opening Ceremonies that took place in the regal city of London! My favorite part was the firework show. Nothing tops the awesomeness of fireworks. Fireworks have been the super stars in the night skies for stacks of decades!

I also loved the bikes with lit wings. I want a costume like that to ride my bike at night. Nothing less will satisfy now. Snap...I really need a glowing bicycle costume.

Just take your favorite sugar cookie recipe (mine has spritz of fresh lemon juice and freshly grated nutmeg!) and spread it in a 13x9 in greased pan. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. Then top with your favorite frosting recipe. Homemade frosting tastes 1,000 times better than store bought and only takes about 10 minutes to make! Then use a biscuit cutter to make outlines for the ring shapes and outline with freshly cut fruit.

TA DA! Pretty little thing!

During commercial breaks the kids made Lifesaver Olympic Ring necklaces, chains, and bracelets.

All you need to make these Olympic Ring candy necklaces is a pair of scissors, packs of lifesavers, and baker's twine. To get the blue ring, you'll need to buy the special tropical flavored LifeSavers. You could also make these with the Gummy Lifesavers too.

I think they ate them 2 seconds after making them.

The kids also played Olympic Ring Hopscotch. We have rings in various sizes. Toss them in the grass and let the little people loose!

The kids waited patiently with anticipation for the USA procession during the Parade of Countries. That was a long wait for little people! I treasure the patriotism they keep tucked into their spirits. Possessing a love and loyalty for whatever country we dwell and believe in adds an extra layer of depth to our lives.

This last photo makes me happy-sad. It feels like yesterday I snapped this photo of the boys merry-go-rounding, singing Yankee Doodle, with their flags waving on Main St. during a patriotic parade. But it wasn't yesterday. It was a lot of yesterdays and they've grown SO much since then!

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I'm Lisa, I am passionate about the beauty of life. I'm a lover of the seasons and find happiness in all details. Entertaining, parties, and home decor energize me. My husband of 13 years is my ultimate best friend and my 3 boys make my heart smile daily. I love deeply, feel deeply, and live deeply.